Lenovo’s mobile site lets shoppers configure computers

By Kevin WoodwardSenior Editor

That includes selecting warranty coverage, software and accessories.

Consumers can customize their laptop or desktop product using the mobile commerce site.

Every company wants its mobile commerce site to be one consumers visit time and again. In the case of computer manufacturer Lenovo the challenge wasn’t just to build the m-commerce site, but to create one that stood out among those of fierce and well-known competitors including Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Acer Inc.

To do that, Lenovo instructed Mad Mobile, the vendor that built its new site, to include custom configurators for the manufacturer’s laptop and desktop computers.

For example, selecting Laptops opens a page where a consumer can choose a specific laptop. From there, a product page with details appears with options to add the item to the shopping cart or to customize it.

Choosing customize launches a series of screens that offer a consumer such options as warranty coverage, software and accessories. With some products, there might be more than 40 selection pages to scroll through.

M-commerce sites from Apple, Dell and Acer do not offer similar configuration options.

Lenovo’s m-commerce site uses images and a color palette similar to the brand’s e-commerce site. Festooned with navigation aids, the m-commerce site has three buttons across the top of the home page for Products, Deals and Call Us. Below that is a product image that rests above product category buttons. Farther down the home page is an entry box to sign up for e-mail deals.

“Lenovo is appealing to tech-savvy electronics consumers with a mobile commerce site that provides timely product information and check-out capabilities to people who are on-the-go,” says Ryan Kelly, Mad Mobile vice president of sales and marketing. Kelly says the Lenovo m-commerce site took about eight weeks to build, its progress expedited by a Lenovo back-to-school site constructed last fall by Mad Mobile.